The Washington Irving House (New York City, New York)

 apartment building  Add category

189-foot, 19-story mid-century modern residential building completed in 1963. Designed by Philip Birnbaum & Associates, it is named after the great early 19th Century American author as is the adjacent high school on the block. The facades are clad in white brick above a ground floor of dark-grey granite. The main entrance is near the west end of the south facade, with sliding glass doors (and a black metal service door) below a rounded, black canvas canopy extending out over the sidewalk. There is another service door to the right, and the west half of the south facade is slightly recessed from the east half.

The upper floors on the south facade have three bays of triple-windows and a single-window bay on the east half, and two wider bays on the west half, each with a pair of double-windows connected by a square window in the middle. All the windows have black metal framing, and some have protruding air-conditioning units. The western three bays set back above the 15th floor, where there is a small overhang at the two westernmost. The east bays then have a shallow setback above the 16th floor, and the west bays again above the 17th floor.

The east facade along the avenue has modern storefronts, and includes a long, horizontal window near the center. The upper floors have two double-windows flanking a single-window at the south end, then a slightly recessed section with three triple-windows, two more double-windows, another recessed section with a triple-window and a wide bay of two double-windows joined by a square pane, and a further-recessed north end with two more double-windows around a triple-window bay. The north-facing sidewall to this northernmost recessed section has a single-window on each floor. The south and middle sections both ascend to the 17th floor before shallow setbacks, while the two slightly-recessed sections both set back above the 15th floor, with small overhangs.

On the north side, there is a small 1-story extension out to 17th Street at the west end, containing freight entrances and a small entrance to the underground parking garage. Behind it, the tower rises with four bays of single-windows at the east side, and then a double-window wrapping around the corner to another pane as it recesses to the west end, which has a triple-window and a single-window bay.

The building contains 231 apartment units. The ground floor along the avenue is occupied by Enail nails and spa, Danny 2 Cleaners, Nectar Allergy Clinic, and Westside Market grocery.